The Rock reportedly took a stunning pay cut

The Rock took a stunning pay cut for a recent role, according to reports. The Brahma Bull is looking to reposition his Hollywood career after recent setbacks and took up a role in The Smashing Machine.

The WWE icon played the titular role of Mark Kerr in the former MMA fighter's biopic. The movie focused on Kerr's rise to the top and his personal struggles.

The Rock is known to command a high fee in Hollywood but he took a big pay cut for The Smashing Machine. According to a report from Deadline, he charged a price of $4 million for the role, significantly lower than the $20 million paycheck he usually commands.

"(Dwayne) Johnson took a $4M fee, significantly below his historical $20M+ paycheck plus points. Sources say he even gave a portion of his paycheck to Emily Blunt and (Mark) Kerr," the report read.

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The A24 production had a budget of $50 million but grossed only $6 million in its opening weekend. It fell short of its projected range of $8 million to $15 million. Despite this, the movie has received favorable reviews and currently sits at 74% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Rock opened up on The Smashing Machine's disappointing opening weekend

The Smashing Machine released on October 3 in the United States, but it didn't quite do the numbers usually associated with The Rock.

However, The Final Boss is looking beyond box office success and posted a message on Instagram, saying that his life has changed after the movie.

"From deep in my grateful bones, thank you to everyone who has watched "The Smashing Machine". In our storytelling world, you can't control box office results - but what I realized you can control is your performance, and your commitment to completely disappear and go elsewhere. And I will run to that opportunity. It was my honor to transform in this role to my director Benny Safdie @bowedtie. Thank you brother for believing in me. Truth is this film has changed my life. With deep gratitude, respect and radicalempathy, dj," he wrote.

About the author

Sherjeel Malik is a writer at Sportskeeda and covers pro wrestling. He was hooked on the product from the moment he saw The Hardy Boyz jumping off ladders during the Attitude Era. While he comes from an engineering background, Sherjeel’s love for pro wrestling and content writing led him to pursue a career in sports journalism. Before assuming his current role at Sportskeeda, Sherjeel worked at other reputable organizations for five years.

While writing articles, he ensures that he only relies on credible sources for information and covers relevant subjects that do not project an agenda against a particular person or association. WWE legend Paul Heyman once shared Sherjeel’s work on his social media handle.

Sherjeel’s earliest memory of pro wrestling is watching Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker square off for the WWE Title in the main event of a pay-per-view in 1998. His favorite wrestlers are Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy. While he admires Orton for his character work as a heel, he looks up to Jeff because of his unique wrestling style and risk-taking ability.

If he could go back to the Attitude Era, Sherjeel would like to manage Ken Shamrock and be his mouthpiece. He feels Shamrock’s promo skills prevented him from becoming a main event-level act in WWE. Hence, he would like to help the UFC Hall of Famer get over with fans.

When not writing about pro wrestling, he likes to read classics and fiction books.

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Edited by Sherjeel Malik